Hunter Schafer has been cast in A24’s drama “Mother Mary”, the David Lowery feature that pairs Anne Hathaway with Michaela Coel. Industry reports placed the project at A24 in March 2023, then confirmed Schafer’s addition in April 2023, folding the “Euphoria” standout into one of the studio’s most watched prestige titles in the pipeline.
Here is the snapshot that matters. “Mother Mary” follows a musician and a fashion designer, with original songs crafted by Jack Antonoff and Charli XCX, and principal photography underway in 2023. The move links Schafer to a studio that, since launching in 2012, has grown from indie disruptor to awards mainstay, backing films that reached global audiences and collected major trophies.
Hunter Schafer and A24’s “Mother Mary” : the essentials
The project arrives at a pivotal time in Schafer’s filmography. After breaking out in HBO’s “Euphoria” in 2019, she stepped into large scale cinema with “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” in 2023, then carried a Berlin competition premiere with “Cuckoo” at the 74th Berlinale in 2024. “Mother Mary” adds an A24 credit to that curve, directed by David Lowery, whose recent features include “The Green Knight” in 2021.
The package is not just starry, it is musically calibrated. A24 disclosed that Jack Antonoff and Charli XCX would deliver original music for the film in 2023, a detail that matters for a story centered on a modern pop icon. With cameras rolling in 2023, the timeline also threads through an industry still catching up from strike delays, which shaped post production calendars across many titles.
Context paints the stakes. A24’s surge became unmistakable in 2022 when “Everything Everywhere All at Once” crossed the 100 million dollar mark worldwide and earned 7 Oscars. That track record, paired with Lowery’s authorial style, gives “Mother Mary” a read as both accessible and craft forward, a place where Schafer’s screen presence can extend beyond teen drama territory.
Timing, roles, expectations : what fans get right and wrong
There is an understandable rush to pin down release dates and trailer drops the second a casting surfaces. The reality since 2023 is more layered. The Writers Guild of America strike lasted 148 days, from May 2023 to late September, and the SAG AFTRA strike ran 118 days, from July to November. Those pauses rippled through schedules, even for films that had already started work.
Another common trap is assuming billing equals screen time. A24 projects often blend marquee names with textured supporting roles, and that mix is the point. Think of how the company casts around a central vision rather than a single showcase performance. With “Mother Mary”, the focus remains on the musician designer duo, while Schafer’s role sits inside that creative orbit, designed to add color and stakes to the lead narrative.
There is also the music element, which tends to change the rollout playbook. When original songs are involved, marketing can wait for a coordinated music first beat, then extend the life of the campaign in waves. Antonoff’s and Charli XCX’s involvement, announced in March 2023, hints at a soundtrack led strategy that lands differently from a standard trailer first path.
The bigger picture for Hunter Schafer and A24
Career wise, the A24 link slots in after a run that mixed franchise visibility and festival validation. In November 2023, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” put Schafer in front of global audiences. In February 2024, “Cuckoo” premiered at Berlin. The A24 set step with “Mother Mary” connects that wider exposure to a director driven canvas, which often travels through top tier festivals before platformed releases.
For A24, the casting follows a familiar calculus. Pair bankable leads with an ascendant talent, match story DNA with a director who has formal control, then let music and design shape the world. The company has spent more than a decade building repeatable credibility with this approach, from offbeat horror to maximalist comedy dramas. It is a playbook that audiences now recognize, one that tends to keep curiosity high across longer timelines.
What should readers expect next. First, a title like this usually surfaces a still image, not a full trailer, once post production settles, then a music tease to set tone. Second, credits and festival positioning arrive close together if a premiere is planned. Third, Schafer’s involvement, confirmed in April 2023, positions her in ongoing A24 conversations that could extend into future collaborations, especially as music forward stories stay hot. That is a lot of signal for one casting note, definitly enough to keep an eye on the next official update.